Security linked to economy, MacKay tells bilateral defence meeting

The future military mindset for Canada and the U.S. must consider the links between security and economy, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Tuesday evening in Ottawa during a keynote speech to the Permanent Joint Board on Defence.

Since 1940, the PJBD has facilitated high-level talks between American and Canadian officials to discuss joint approaches on defence and security issues.

MacKay says the increasing integration of Canadian and U.S. economies has been key to prosperity and security in both countries.

However, he cautioned, “we have come to recognize that commerce is not only a source of security – it can also be a source of vulnerability.” MacKay noted that such initiatives as “Beyond the Border” and the Regulatory Cooperation Council Action Plan will “work to ensure that the vital economic partnership that joins our two countries continues to be the cornerstone of our economic competitiveness and security.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama announced the Beyond the Border plan in December, promoting it as a framework to ease travel and trade between the two countries, including increased pre-clearance provisions and an attempt at making the border more porous for economic movement.

However, critics and opposition MPS panned the plan.

Members of Parliament questioned the government for months leading up to the border deal, and expressed concern it would force Canadians to forfeit important personal data.

Liberal interim leader Bob Rae wondered about some outstanding issues that he says the plan failed to address.

“We have some significant trade issues with the United States with respect to ‘Buy America,’ with respect to the amount of trade harassment that we’ve had over the years, none of those things were put on the table by the prime minister,” Rae told reporters in December.

“I don’t think anybody can argue with the principle that we don’t have big barriers at the border. The problem is … we’re … basically bargaining with ourselves. Every step of the way. We’re being asked to make major concessions and we don’t see a strong or a sufficient response from the Americans.”

MacKay says the border deal is important to securing the future. He said Tuesday that while consultations with stakeholders about the new border deal “opens the door to the new level of interconnectedness,” there is still a need to “facilitate greater cooperation to support this action plan.”

It needs to happen soon, he said, “because newer security domains are in need of proper stewardship.”

MacKay listed a handful of looming security issues including defence of the Arctic, cyber security, and space as areas for future concern that have led to complex challenges for a number of areas of government.

The way forward is through more co-operation, he said.

“We need to increasingly focus our military forces in support of those civilian departments and agencies that have the lead,” MacKay said. “We need to all work together to mitigate capability gaps, share best practices and co-operate on new approaches.”

MacKay also said he hoped the Canada-U.S. Combined Defence Plan will be finalized Wednesday. The plan was initially formed in 2006 to require commanders of NORAD, USNORTHCOM and Canada Command to co-ordinate and communicate-.

The two countries also aim to sign off on the Civil Assistance Plan and the Information Sharing Memorandum of Understanding – the latter will update and formalize existing arrangements between Canada Command, U.S. Northern Command and NORAD, to identify and provide for ease of sharing information amongst the three organizations.

Collaboration has already begun “to a certain degree,” MacKay said. “But there is still room for more integrated collaboration – domestically and bi-nationally.”

“When it comes to interconnectedness, no one understands ‘joint’ like the military,” he quipped.